“No duh! So, I won’t bore you with the typical garbage. Instead, I wish to reminisce for a few moments about some of the really important events — you know, the stories that make you grin or just shake your head in utter disbelief.

In fact, all the stories you’ll see in my list had to pass very rigorous WorldNetDaily standards. They had to: 1) make me laugh; or 2) spill my beverage because they were so bizarre.”

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade’s Jihad Jaara had given an exclusive interview to WND the previous day, discussing the siege in which members of his group and other terror organizations holed up inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem while fleeing a massive Israeli anti-terror operation.

One of Christianity’s most sacred sites, the church is believed to be the birthplace of Jesus. Israel surrounded the church area but refused to storm the structure. Gunmen inside included wanted senior Hamas, Tzanim and Brigades terrorists reportedly involved in suicide bombings and shooting attacks. Over 200 nuns and priests were trapped in the Church after Israeli hostage negotiators failed to secure their release.

The siege ended after 39 days, when mediators agreed 13 senior terrorists would be deported to European countries, 26 would be transported to the Gaza Strip, and the remaining gunmen would be freed.

“If I pray in Jesus’ name in public, I have to wear civilian clothes,” Klingenschmitt told WND. They taught mandatory lectures there to all chaplains, that you cannot pray to your God, you have to pray to the civic god. The Muslim chaplain can’t pray to Allah, a Jewish chaplain can’t pray to Adonai, a Roman Catholic can’t pray in the name of the Trinity, and I couldn’t pray in Jesus’ name in public. They only let us do that in private. If it’s in public, they tell us to just pray to God and say, ‘Amen.'”

Ultimately, after not eating food for 18 days in protest of the Navy’s policy encouraging “inclusive” prayers at public events, Klingenschmitt received reluctant permission to wear his uniform and pray in Jesus’ name outside the White House.

What was proclaimed across America as a miracle in Tallmansville, W.Va., with the announcement of 12 trapped miners found alive turned to shock and disgust with new information indicating that 12 miners had actually died, with just one man surviving the 41-hour ordeal.

“The initial report from the rescue team to the command center indicated multiple survivors,” said Ben Hatfield, president International Coal Group. “That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command center. It quickly got out of control.”

“We were devastated,” Hatfield added. “It’s beyond belief. Welcome to the worst day of my life.”

“Everybody is stunned and sickened to their stomach. We feel like we’ve been lied to,” one relative at the scene, Sam Lance, said. “I thought I was going to pass out. This is probably the most horrible thing that has happened to me in my lifetime.”

“How could this be broadcast all over the country?” asked another. “To rip someone’s heart out. It’s awful.”

While print newspapers screamed headlines that morning saying the miners were all alive, WND readers were kept aware through the night of the tragic end to the story.

“If this sex-crazed animal, whose favorite word is the F-word, is allowed to sing at Bush’s inauguration this will send a clear message to pro-family Americans that the Republican Party has taken them for a ride and ditched them in the gutter,” Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, told WND.

“He’s not performing,” a spokesman for the Presidential Inauguration Committee confirmed for WND.

Jane Fonda gets that ol’ time religion

Jan. 6, 2000: WND first reported actress Jane Fonda’s conversion to Christianity, a story subsequently picked up with attribution by virtually the rest of the establishment media, including Associated Press. The separation between media mogul Ted Turner – who once called Christianity a religion for losers – and Fonda, was prompted in part by her stunning embrace of “born-again” evangelical Christianity, sources close to the couple told WorldNetDaily.

Nearly five years later, Fonda told New York Post columnist Liz Smith that she regards the Bible as a metaphor, reads extra-biblical gospels, is still searching for a church and considers herself a “feminist Christian,” distinguished from fundamentalists.

The issue gained worldwide attention after a report in the Daily Star of London featured the headline: “Oh Buoy! Popeye’s gone gay!”

“Beefy Bluto squeals with joy as he pushes muscle-bound Popeye back and forth on a swing in a children’s playground,” the report said. “Then the two tough guys lark about on a see-saw before heading off to the beach. Their new-found affection for each other is sealed when they get the words ‘Buddies For Life’ tattooed on their bulging arms.”

Buyer beware of Consumer Reports

Jan. 10, 2005: WND exposed how Consumer Reports, the respected magazine that has advised Americans on everything from new car purchases to which electric can opener to buy, published a list of birth-control options that includes abortion, complete with a section describing how the procedure gets rid of a pregnant mother’s “uterine contents.”

Only two months before, Gen. Charles E. Wilhelm, USMC, Commander of the Southern Command, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Panama Canal, during which he stated there was no threat from state-sponsored or “transnational” crime against Panama.

But the document, classified “SECRET//X1” and prepared four days after Wilhelm’s testimony, said that the Chinese firm that acquired control of the Canal, “Hutchison Whampoa,” is indeed considered a threat.

“Hutchison’s containerized shipping facilities in the Panama Canal, as well as the Bahamas, could provide a conduit for illegal shipments of technology or prohibited items from the west to the PRC, or facilitate the movement of arms and other prohibited items into the Americas,” warned the report.

According to an Asian affairs expert who spoke on condition of anonymity, Chao allegedly had characterized as “racist” the findings of a May 1999 report on Chinese espionage during the Clinton administration, released by a select committee chaired by Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif.

“The real story here is that Ms. Chao’s father – and most likely herself – has been a family friend of the leaders of communist China for practically all of her life,” said WND’s source.

Chao, who was confirmed by the Senate and still serves as Bush’s secretary of labor, is the wife of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican minority leader.

At the sentencing, District Court Judge Edward Cashman told a packed courtroom made up mostly of people related to the victim: “The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn’t solve anything. It just corrodes your soul.”

The judge said that when he began 25 years ago, he handed down tough sentences but now believes “it accomplishes nothing of value.”

“It doesn’t make anything better; it costs us a lot of money; we create a lot of expectation, and we feed on anger,” Cashman explained.

The judge said he imposed the light sentence because the man did not qualify for in-prison sex-offnder treatment. He therefore gave him a minimum of 60 days in jail and ordered him to complete the treatment when he got out or face a possible life sentence.

“What is equally troubling is that the judge no longer believes in punishment,” said Douglas’ spokesman. “The governor says that if a criminal court judge no longer believes in punishment, he shouldn’t be on the bench.”

The O’Reilly column, owned in part by WND, was published by more than 100 newspapers, including those in major markets such as New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Orange County, Calif., Miami, Atlanta, Cleveland, Albany and New Haven.

“This launch, just over a year old, has to be one of the most successful in the history of newspaper syndication,” said Newcombe. “And there’s no question it is the most successful column in the nation over the last 12 months.”

WorldNetDaily launched the O’Reilly column, “The No Spin Zone,” in 2000. Very quickly, it was picked up for syndication by Creators in 2001 – only the second time in history a column was moved into newspaper syndication after appearing in only one Internet venue. The first was WND’s column by David Limbaugh.

“The O’Reilly Factor,” his Fox News Channel show, has since become the No. 1 cable news program in the country.

Mercer describes herself as “a wandering Jew” who has lived in Israel, South Africa, Canada and, now, the United States. The daughter of a rabbi, Ilana initially found herself on the left side of the political spectrum, but moved to become a libertarian.

“We ask black people … It’s time for us to come together. It’s time for us to rebuild New Orleans – the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans,” the mayor said. “This city will be chocolate at the end of the day.”

WND executive news editor Joe Kovacs asked, “What if the mayor of Miami, for instance, suggested his city become more vanilla? …

“How about the novel concept of having the city filled with Americans, no matter what color or flavor they are? They could be chocolate, vanilla, coffee, salsa, teriyaki or tutti-fruity for that matter.”

A national security adviser copied classified files onto a disk from an NSC computer in a secure area of the West Wing, then uploaded them onto a computer connected to an unsecured network in her Old Executive Office Building office.

A national security adviser copied classified files onto a disk from an NSC computer in a secure area of the West Wing, then uploaded them onto a computer connected to an unsecured network in her Old Executive Office Building office.

While the woman’s computer was confiscated and her building security pass was taken, the Clinton appointee, was allowed to return to her job after going out on extended leave.

“She was supposed to be fired and wasn’t,” said a White House employee close to the investigation. “She went on maternity leave. Now she’s back working at NSC.”

National security experts said the White House security violation fit a pattern of sloppy handling of U.S. secrets throughout the government during the past eight years.

“But this latest breach lays the problem right at the West Wing and at Berger’s door,” said William C. Triplett, a former Reagan White House official, who noted that Berger was a lobbyist for China before joining the NSC.

The Embassy Suites Hotel receipt of Danny Coulson, then-director of the FBI’s Terrorist Task Force and founding commander of the bureau’s Hostage Rescue Team was dated April 19, 1995, with a check-in time of “00:20” – military time for 12:20 a.m. Coulson claims that he was in Texas the morning of the attack.

The existence of the receipt and subsequent questions it raises surrounding the FBI’s official denial of prior knowledge of the OKC bombing was first reported by J.D. Cash of the McCurtain (Oklahoma) Daily Gazette – a small-town paper that has been out in front of scores of OKC-related stories.

“Since the bombing, officials at the Department of Justice have repeatedly assured victims that the FBI had no prior knowledge of any plot to bomb the Murrah federal building,” the paper said. However, “evidence of Coulson’s clandestine trip fits squarely with a substantial body of details found in hundreds of pages of other official documents obtained [via Freedom of Information Act requests] by” the paper – “evidence revealing weeks of planning by an elite corps of drug and counterterrorism experts who were closely monitoring members of various far-right groups they considered religious extremists and threats to the safety and security of the nation.”

Penn & Teller ridicule Christ’s crucifixion

Jan. 20, 2003: The magic-comedy team of Penn & Teller caused a number of people attending a Las Vegas roast of a fellow magician to head for the doors.

Their skit, parodying the crucifixion of Jesus, included Teller, dressed as Christ on a full-size cross, and a midget dressed as an angel, who “performed a simulated sex act on the near-naked Teller.” Penn, in a Roman gladiator costume, unveiled the scene by pulling away a “Shroud of Turin” that covered the cross.

According to Rick Neiswonger, a longtime magician and marketing executive, “the majority” of the 400 who attended the roast were offended.

“They (organizers) warned everybody that something offensive was going to happen, but my God, where do you draw the line? … This was beyond bad taste,” Neiswonger said.

Villa was unsuccessfully pursued for 11 months by Gen. John J. Pershing after the Mexican and his troops raided a small New Mexico border town in 1916.

“Like Pancho Villa, it looks like Osama bin Laden has outsmarted the U.S. military generals,” Ernesto Cienfuegos wrote for the website, “The Voice of Aztlan.”

“Both are revered by the common people of each respective community,” he said. “Both are seen as Robin Hoods by the poor and oppressed. Both were construction contractors at one time in their lives. Francisco Villa was a general contractor on the construction of the railroad through Chihuahua’s majestic Copper Canyon. Both Osama bin Laden and General Francisco Villa were indirectly fighting those whom they perceived to be lackeys of the United States.

“It certainly appears today, that Osama bin Laden is headed for the very same legendary and folk hero status in Islam.”

As WND initially reported, “The Book of Daniel,” written by a homosexual, was promoted as the only show on television in which Jesus appeared as a recurring character and the only network prime-time drama series with a regular male “gay” character, a 23-year-old Republican son. The main character, Daniel Webster, was a troubled, pill-popping Episcopal priest.

The cartoons were a smash hit with WND readers as well as TV networks such as NBC, MSNBC and Fox News, which aired the hilarious animated version of WND editor Joseph Farah reporting on the Butterfly Ballot fiasco during the 2000 election mess.

Other favorites included on the CD collection include Janet “Mary Poppins” Reno, the “Palm Beach Shuffle” and “Hannity & Butthead.”

WND goes global – announces new Jerusalem bureau

Jan. 25, 2005: Furthering its charge of bringing the most hard-hitting, fiercely independent news to readers from around the globe, WorldNetDaily announced the upcoming opening of its news bureau in Jerusalem to report from the Middle East.

Headed by Aaron Klein, WND’s new presence in the Mideast was seen as an opportunity to shine light in some of the darkest corners of hatred and totalitarianism on the planet with exclusive articles on the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and regular in-demand interviews with newsmakers and Mideast leaders.

Talk about “mission accomplished.”

For two years, Klein has been out front on most developments in the region with exclusive information from a wide variety of sources: settlers facing eviction from their homes, activists hoping for Jewish access to the Temple Mount, military experts, government insiders and the terror leaders themselves.

Klein also edits the Galil Report, a new intelligence e-mail newsletter published by WND for those who need to know the events and players before they become news.

“We believe there is a void in the traditional book publishing marketplace, just as surely as we recognize there was one in the news business prior to the arrival of WorldNetDaily,” said WND’s founder and editor Joseph Farah. “We plan to fill that void as proven content providers – and make a profit doing it.”

Atheist Luigi Cascioli, who alleges Jesus never existed in his book, ‘The Fable of Christ,’ had brought charges against Rev. Enrico Righi for allegedly deceiving people into thinking Jesus was an actual historical figure.

“The point is not to establish whether Jesus existed or not, but if there is a question of possible fraud,” said Cascioli’s attorney, Mauro Fonzo, to reporters, according to the Associated Press.

Specifically, Cascioli says Righi has broken two Italian laws: the “abuse of popular belief” – which amounts to intentionally deceiving someone – and “impersonation” – meaning one gains by giving a false name to someone.

Hassan Abdul Salaam, an Iraqi-Kurdish doctor, provided detailed information to WND on Saddam Hussein’s biological and chemical weapons programs and the Iraqi dictator’s role as a supplier of WMD to Islamists in Sudan where they were used against Christians.

“I know I can’t undo what I’ve done, except to tell the intelligence agencies and the media what Saddam is up to,” Salaam explained. “Even if the Iraqi assassins hunt me down and kill me off like Hussein Kamal [another Iraqi defector who exposed Saddam’s weapon’s programs to the CIA and Mossad station chiefs in Amman, Jordan], I will have fulfilled my duty before both Allah and mankind.”

Hillary to go Hollywood for PMS?

Jan. 29, 2006: Could you imagine Sen. Hillary Clinton as a star in a film about women’s pre-menstrual syndrome?

“I’m so fascinated about this. I have so many friends who are hitting 40 and are flipping out,” said Arquette. “I think it hasn’t been talked about so I’ll be interviewing a bunch of people about it. I want to interview movie stars and rock stars, people on the street and then I want to interview Hillary Clinton.”

To WND’s knowledge, the former first lady has not taken part in such a project.

During an appearance on the network’s “Larry King Live” program, Amanpour stated, “Most of the Iraqi people are now losing hope that the promised reconstruction is going to happen and that the quality of their lives is going to increase. This is a big drama because hope is the only thing they have in the middle of this spiralling security disaster. And by any indication whether you take the number of journalists killed or wounded, whether you take the number of American soldiers killed or wounded, whether you take the number of Iraqi soldiers killed and wounded, contractors, people working there, it just gets worse and worse.”

While Timberlake called the incident a “wardrobe malfunction,” Jackson admitted the stunt had been planned.

“I am really sorry if I offended anyone. That was truly not my intention,” she said. “The decision to have a costume reveal at the end of my halftime show performance was made after final rehearsals. … It was not my intention that it go as far as it did.”

FCC Chairman Michael Powell said he was outraged, explaining, “Like millions of Americans, my family and I gathered around the television for a celebration. Instead, that celebration was tainted by a classless, crass and deplorable stunt. Our nation’s children, parents and citizens deserve better.”

“We love stunts at our agency, and she opened the door for more people to take risks,” said James LaForce, partner in the New York public relations agency LaForce & Stevens.

Did environmentalism bring down Columbia?

Feb. 2, 2003: A NASA report, obtained by WND, revealed that the agency in 1997 identified problems following an earlier switch to “environmentally friendly” parts and materials to hold the external tank insulation in place during launch – the very insulation that damaged thermal tiles on Columbia’s wing, causing the spacecraft to disintegrate on re-entry.

NASA investigators seven years before had noted that the damage on a returned shuttle followed changes in the methods of “foaming” the external tank.

“During the STS-87 mission, there was a change made on the external tank,” said the report. “Because of NASA’s goal to use environmentally friendly products, a new method of ‘foaming’ the external tank had been used for this mission and the STS-86 mission. It is suspected that large amounts of foam separated from the external tank and impacted the orbiter. This caused significant damage to the protective tiles of the orbiter.”

In what was billed as “her first prime-time television episodic appearance,” Spears was to appear as a sidekick to the regular character Jack, who hosts his own talk show on the homosexual network Out TV, which is bought by a Christian TV network.

In a memo to affiliates, NBC even rescinded its earlier description, saying “the information was mistakenly included in a press release describing an upcoming episode of ‘Will and Grace’ which, in fact, has yet to be written. The reference to ‘Cruci-fixins’ will not be in the show and the story line will not contain a Christian characterization at all.”

Full of practical steps every American can take, “Taking America Back” not only sounds the alarm, but shows how to win the war. “It’s time to celebrate virtue and knowledge again,” says Farah. “It’s time to wake up your neighbors so they can once again smell the sweet aroma of freedom … Let’s take America back.”

In “Taking America Back,” Farah reveals how we as a nation have moved from freedom fighters to comfort lovers. He says that it’s time to wake up and realize where our present state of affairs is taking us. It’s time for Americans to choose the kind of country in which we want to live.

According to Farah, “The choice is simple: The world of standards and morality, of marriage, order, the rule of law, and accountability to God? Or the world of anything-goes, aberrant sexual behavior, doing-your-own-thing lifestyles, and moral codes that change with the speed of the latest public-opinion poll?”

Former Customs Agent Diane Kleiman confirmed what earlier WND reports showed – that ramps or the “back side” of major airports, including specifically New York’s JFK, are wide open to penetration and have been used by alien and drug smugglers since Sept. 11, 2001.

“The method for smuggling the drugs into the country is the same as the method for smuggling surface-to-air missiles, firearms, biological, chemical or nuclear devices,” Kleiman said in her report to the Justice Department.

“Today, when traveling on a plane, the public sees many people standing by the screening devices, and they are practically forced to strip naked,” she wrote. “They get that warm, cozy feeling that the government has enacted safer mechanisms to protect them, which is the perception the government wants to give. But the fact is, the real security threats are on the ramps. And nothing has changed there to make it safer for the public, nor has the personnel changed. It’s all a facade.”

That was veteran astronaut Tammy Jernigan’s stunned reaction when she viewed the photo at the home of the San Francisco man who snapped the shuttle’s re-entry into the atmosphere just before it disintegrated.

“It certainly appears very anomalous,” Jernigan said. “We sure will be very interested in taking a very hard look at this.”

“In the critical shot,” reported the San Francisco Chronicle, “a glowing purple rope of light corkscrews down toward the plasma trail, appears to pass behind it, then cuts sharply toward it from below. As it merges with the plasma trail, the streak itself brightens for a distance, then fades.”

“[The photos] clearly record an electrical discharge like a lightning bolt flashing past, and I was snapping the pictures almost exactly … when the Columbia may have begun breaking up during re-entry,” the photographer originally said.

To WND’s knowledge, the mysterious photo has never been released to the public.

Hamas declares war – on Rotary Clubs

Feb. 7, 2006: Following Hamas’ stunning election victory in the Palestinian Authority, Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin documented how few – including journalists – have bothered to do something as simple as read the group’s own charter to see what the Islamic Resistance Movement says about itself and its enemies.

Referring to its enemies, Article 22 of the charter states: “They were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests.”

The weblog NeanderNews pointed out the image used by Imam Ahmad Abu Laban was a faxed copy of AP’s Aug. 15, 2005, photo of Jacques Barrot competing at the annual French Pig-Squealing Championships in Trie-sur-Baise.

During February, Muslims throughout the world engaged in protests and deadly riots in response to 12 cartoons caricaturing Islam’s prophet Muhammad published the previous September by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and three much more provocative images that Muslim leaders were unable to document.

One of those images of mysterious origin, which never were published, is from the AP photo. Another depicted Muhammad as a pedophile demon and a third had a praying Muslim being raped by a dog.

“On the subject, Cheney was more extreme than me,” ben Eliezer told the press. Ben Eliezer also said that when he had discussed Arafat with Rice, she had said that it was a waste of time dealing with him.

Yedioth Aharonot quoted ben Eliezer yesterday as saying: “The vice president told me: ‘As far as I am concerned, you can even hang him,” with regard to Arafat.

“It’s a fantasy,” said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer of the Arafat quote, as the administration attempted to get the genie back in the bottle.

A chastised ben Eliezer called Rice and Cheney to apologize and changed his recollection, saying he had not attributed the hanging remark to the vice president.

“I also want to make clear that no White House official told me that it’s a waste of time dealing with Arafat,” ben Eliezer said, backtracking from his earlier comments.

“Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin” includes regular sections on the global threat from Islamic terrorism, the Mideast, internal security, the Far East, Europe, intelligence briefings and important news backgrounders as well as top stories and breaking news.

“For many years I have wanted to have a forum like this for stories I come across that are not necessarily double-sourced for the standards of daily journalism, yet they are leads and reports that are very reliable and from very credible sources. My sources are in the Pentagon, on the scene in the Persian Gulf, in Afghanistan, in Israel, in the CIA, the NSA and, of course, military intelligence.”

“I think the obvious trigger was the litigation of the WorldNetDaily application, which forced the committee to take a look at the rules,” said Bloomberg News congressional correspondent William L. Roberts III, the outgoing chairman of the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which gets its authority from Congress.

WND’s legal team charged that the Standing Committee of Correspondents had violated the newssite’s First Amendment rights by unfairly excluding it from covering Congress.

A document used internally by the committee to investigate WND later revealed that it was more concerned with the political nature of WND’s content than its quantity. WND counsel Richard Ackerman of the U.S. Justice Foundation, who uncovered the document, charged the panel was engaging in “viewpoint-based discrimination.”

The panel overturned its ruling against WND after legal action was threatened.

Trying to explain parts of the meeting he said he didn’t recall, Gore told the FBI he normally sits next to the president in such meetings and that the two sometimes consult while the meeting is going on, thereby missing the surrounding discussion.

“The Vice President also observed that he drank a lot of iced tea during meetings, which could have necessitated a restroom break,” the FBI summary stated. “It was not uncommon for him, and for that matter the President, to excuse themselves from meetings to use the restroom.”

Rev. John MacLeod of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland wrote: “Possibly … no event since Noah’s flood has caused such loss of life by drowning as the recent Asian tsunami. That so many of our fellow creatures should have perished in so short a time, and in so awful a fashion, was a divine visitation that ought to make men tremble the world over.”

He continued: “Some of the places most affected by the tsunami attracted pleasure-seekers from all over the world. It has to be noted that the wave arrived on the Lord’s day, the day God set apart to be observed the world over as a holy resting from all employments and recreations that are lawful on other days.”

MacLeod said: “To rule out the hand of God in this … is to forget that He is in sovereign control of all events. If the sparrow falling to the ground is an event noted, and ordered, by Him, how much is this the case when the souls of so many thousands are parted from their bodies?”

The new technology, currently used to locate lost pets, has been adapted for use in humans, allowing implant wearers to emit a homing beacon, have vital bodily functions monitored and confirm identity when making e-commerce transactions.

When implanted in the body, the device is powered electromagnetically through the movement of muscles, and can be activated either by the wearer or by the monitoring facility.

Despite the 30-minute warning given by police – printed notices posted to residents’ doors that did not disclose any details – most residents were shaken up by the simulated bombing runs, hovering black helicopters in the night, firing of live ammunition and explosives very close to innocent bystanders.

In the town of Kingsville, one of eight helicopters hit a telephone pole, starting a fire and horrifying residents who saw it happen. Fire officials said they had no warning the exercise would take place.

“Martial law has been declared through presidential powers and war powers act, and some citizens have refused to give up their weapons. They have taken over two of the buildings in Kingsville. The police cannot handle it. So you call these guys in. They show up and they zap everybody, take all the weapons, and let the local P.D. clean it up,” described Sanchez of the scenario the Night Stalkers were likely given.

The Human Rights Campaign – which has always cultivated a “mainstream” image – signed on as an official sponsor of the “True Spirit Conference,” held in Washington, D.C. HRC spokesman Wayne Besen defended the “chest surgery” sessions on the Fox News Channel’s debate show “Hannity & Colmes.”

Peter LaBarbera, senior policy analyst for the Culture & Family Institute of Concerned Women for America, confronted Besen, “There’s actually a doctor coming from New York who is talking about ‘breast reconstruction’ – chopping off the breasts of these girls because they want to become men. We think that’s dangerous. How can you justify teaching that as normal in the schools?”

Besen replied, “First of all, we’re very proud of supporting this type of conference. As Peter said, there are doctors and medical professionals there to deal with this particular issue. He ought to get educated on it.”

Organizers boasted that at least two doctors would be on hand at True Spirit to discuss “top” (breast removal) and “bottom” (creation of a makeshift “penis” from a vagina) surgery.

No talking to God here

Feb. 17, 2005: When Jesus stood on the Temple Mount nearly 2,000 years ago, he cited the prophet Isaiah by saying his Father’s house was to be a house of prayer for all nations. But that was then and this is now.

Even appearing to pray can bring down the authorities, noted one Jewish tour guide who told of a Jewish woman who was detained the previous summer for putting her head down while sitting on a bench.

“It was a hot day and she just wanted to rest for a few minutes. The Wafq started screaming and the police arrested her. She told me she was held for six hours and had to sign documents stating she would never again return to the Temple Mount.”

As the nation experiences an unprecedented increase in unwed motherhood, more men are finding themselves named as “fathers,” for purposes of child support, simply because of their ability to pay, say several recent studies. Indeed, in some cases, men who have been able to prove they have no biological link to a child had still been ordered to provide court-ordered support.

DNA testing isn’t always the answer say experts critical of the way tests are conducted and analyzed.

“Despite testing facility claims of a 99 percent accuracy rate, all men are at risk, whether it’s through a wrong paternity judgment or paternity fraud,” said Darrin Bush, developer of PaternityTestFlaw.com. “There is a chance that a man can be determined to be the father of a child even if he never had relations with the mother. The deck appears to be stacked against men.”

A spokesman said Citibank “decided that moving forward the practice of assessing a small business account will apply uniformly in small businesses,” including those “engaged in the manufacture or sale of small firearms.”

Larry Hagman, who played J.R. Ewing in the popular CBS series “Dallas,” said while both Bush and J.R. came from the Texas oil industry, the president was not smart enough to be like J.R.

“J.R. was so smart he always found a way to win without violence … he ruined his enemies financially or socially,” said Hagman.

The former actor, who also played an astronaut in the 1960s TV series “I Dream of Jeannie,” called Bush a “sad figure: not too well educated, who doesn’t get out of America much. He’s leading the country towards fascism.”

“Pelletier admits it took him six months to study and paint this band of conspirators, which includes yours truly, as well as George W. Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Rupert Murdoch, Ann Coulter and close to 120 others. Why?

“Because ‘all Americans need to know what is going on – the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy that Hillary Clinton warned about is real, they think they can do no wrong with God on their side, and they are here on this painting,’ the artist hyperventilates.”

While race is, by far, the No. 1 factor cited as the reason for hate crimes, blacks are slightly less likely to be victims and far more likely to be perpetrators, statistics collected from between July 2000 and December 2003.

About 56 percent of hate crimes were motivated, at least in part, by racial hatred, according to the study, and most were accompanied by violence.

While nine in 10,000 whites and nine in 10,000 Hispanics are victimized by hate crimes, only seven in 10,000 blacks are targets, according to the report.

The report says 38 percent of all those reporting hate crimes said the attacker was black, and in 90 percent of those cases, the victim believed the offender’s motive was racial. In incidents involving white attackers, only 30 percent attribute the hate crime to race, while 20 percent attributed it to ethnicity.

The report says 40 percent of white hate crime victims were attacked by blacks, adding, “The small number of black hate crime victims precludes analysis of the race of persons who victimized them.”

“It’s an astounding report,” said Jack Levin, a leading hate crime expert at Northeastern University. “It’s not necessarily completely accurate, but I would trust these data before I trusted the voluntary law enforcement reports to the FBI.”

‘Chappaquiddick Kid’ off hook with college

Feb. 23, 2006: He was only 20 years old, but Paul Trost, a student at Massasoit Community College in Brockton, Mass., was incensed over something that happened 17 years before he was born and he wasn’t about to let Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., begin his speech without reminding him.

Fund-raising efforts collected approximately $55,000 to pay off the finance company after Leonard fell behind on payments.

“Once you get behind, with medical bills and all it’s hard to catch up,” Leonard told WND. The widow suffered from diabetes, severe asthma and chronic bronchitis. She had been unable to work and raised the couple’s five children on the fixed income of her husband’s military benefits and disability payments.

Leonard reclaimed her home of 35 years on Feb. 28, the anniversary of her husband’s valorous death in Vietnam.

Army Sergeant First Class Matthew Leonard was one of 20 black Americans to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor in Vietnam.

Group trains volunteers to stalk Minutemen’s kids

Feb. 25, 2006: A group that ran government-funded day-labor hiring centers got tired of opponents of illegal immigration monitoring their activities, so they decided to kick it up a notch by training volunteers to stalk the children of members of the Minuteman group.

“We are going to target them in a specific way,” said Gustavo Torres, executive director of Casa de Maryland, who was training volunteers to photograph the the Minutemen who stood across the street from his facility.

“Then we are going to picket their houses, and the schools of their kids, and go to their work,” he said. “If they are going to do this to us, we are going to respond in the same way, to let people know their neighbors are extremists, that they are anti-immigrant. They are going to hear from us.”

The service also ranked WND as the 3,821st largest website in the world and the 39th largest news service of any kind based on unique visitors and the 20th largest based on pageviews, with more than 6.2 million pages served.

In his story, “When Barbarella Met Jesus,” Fisher writes: “This is one of those Internet specials, a report that originated on a wacky Web site and found its way onto page one of the Washington Times before flying all over the infotainment universe.”

Farah responded in a column, noting, “Wacky Web site? … Wacky, indeed. At least we get our facts right, Marc, old buddy. ‘One of those Internet specials,’ he writes. What does he mean by that? Wasn’t it one of those ‘Internet specials’ that got the president of the United States impeached a year ago?”

The company she had in mind for the project is Digital Angel Corporation, originally formed to produce implantable tracking systems for humans.

“The safety of our food supply is critical to our families,” said McCollum. “This technology will allow the Department of Agriculture to track an incidence of ‘mad cow’ or other diseases in livestock like chronic wasting disease discovered in the United States within 48 hours. We are fortunate to have a pioneer in this important technology right in my home town of South Saint Paul, Minnesota.”

March 1, 2000: It was a reasonable question at a festive event – one Bill Clinton could have answered with charm or ignored with a shrug.

“When will you hold your next formal press conference,” then WND Washington Bureau Chief Paul Sperry asked Clinton as the president greeted members of the media invited to the South Lawn of the White House for a picnic in their honor.

“I watched the blood rush to Clinton’s gargantuan face as he launched into a tirade,” reported Sperry. “I’ll never forget the maniacal look in his bloodshot eyes. There was a moment, fleeting, where I sensed he wanted to try to take a swipe at me. I was getting full frontal Clinton. His volcanic temper, hidden so well from the public by his handlers, erupted less than 12 inches from my eyes.”

The eyewitnesses, a husband and wife who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, said they encountered el-Shukrijumah and other potential al-Qaida operatives, including Aafia Siddiqui, in a small caf– near Lake Isabella in Kern County Sept. 7, 2005. They described him as small (approximately 5’4″), thin (about 130 pounds), and clean-shaven with a prominent nose, dark eyes and black hair. They noted that he appeared nervous and spoke English to his Middle Eastern companions without an accent.

Despite a $5 million reward for el-Shukrijumah – and a license plate number copied by the couple – neither the Kern County sheriff, the FBI nor Sen. Arlen Specter’s office responded to the reported sighting.

“We all feel like a school teacher who can’t talk about God,” said Joe Bubar, pastor of Grace Bible Church.

But that was before Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute got involved.

“The intimidation has gone too far,” said Dacus. “The Internal Revenue Code states that churches are not forbidden to participate in propositions, provided that less than five percent of their total financial and labor resources go into the process.”

Confronted with the IRS ruling by WND, a spokeswoman for the assessor’s office expressed second thoughts: “Well, if he’s quoting the law … look, we’re not going to be auditing churches.”

It’s one of those ironic twists of history, but the Jewish Iraqi exiles who bear the distinction of having saved Saddam’s life don’t like to talk about it. They don’t want Jews blamed for Hussein and his regime.

“After it became public, the family got this angry response from some people saying they should have done something,” said Amatzia Baram. “But it was ridiculous. We weren’t talking about killing a dictator but a fetus.”